President Trump said on Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence will lead the U.S. delegation being sent to try to negotiate a ceasefire and settlement between Turkey and U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria. The delegation was set to depart within 24 hours of his announcement, according to a senior administration official.
The delegation will also include special envoy for Syria, Jim Jeffrey, among others, but it’s unclear who they will meet in Ankara after Turkey rejected talks with what it considers “terrorists.”
Two days after the phone call between Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Turkey launched an operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — he troops that the U.S. backed, armed and fought alongside against ISIS. Trump announced he was withdrawing two attachments of U.S. troops in the area before the offensive began.
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